After decades of ill will, Pakistan and Bangladesh revive direct trade shipping route

The Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan was the first container ship to sail directly between the two countries in decades

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An aerial view of a container ship. Pakistan’s envoy to Bangladesh said the direct shipping route was “a major step” in boosting trade across the region. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 8:54am, 18 Nov 2024

The first cargo ship in decades to sail directly from Pakistan to Bangladesh successfully unloaded its containers, port officials said on Sunday, as both sides seek to rebuild ties after decades of frosty relations.

The two countries, once one nation, split in 1971 after a brutal war, with Bangladesh then drawing closer to Pakistan’s rival India.

But its ties with New Delhi have frayed after a student-led revolution in August toppled Bangladesh’s autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India by helicopter.

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The 182-metre (597-foot) long container ship – the Panama-flagged Yuan Xiang Fa Zhan – had sailed from Pakistan’s Karachi to Bangladesh’s Chittagong.

Top Chittagong port official Omar Faruq confirmed on Sunday that the ship had unloaded its cargo on November 11 before departing.

Pakistan’s envoy to Dhaka, Syed Ahmed Maroof, sparked widespread discussion on social media in Bangladesh when he said after the docking that the direct shipping route was “a major step” in boosting trade across the region.

The route will “promote new opportunities for businesses on both sides”, Maroof wrote on Facebook.